OHN Salary.....

Specialties Occupational

Published

Hey guys,

I am getting picked up by the chemical plant that I have been working at for several months through a staffing agency. It is a large worldwide coorporation. I am the only RN here at this site. I do have 3 paramedics and we have a doctor on sire monday-thursday and do all employee physicals and pre-employment physicals. I also have an ER with 3 beds. Plant has about 1000 employees and 700 contractors so I have around 1700 that I see or am responsible for treating in the ER if needed. I was previously an OR nurse ad ER nurse and this is my first job in occ health. I know they are going to ask me for a salary quote and I don't want to sell myself short so I just don't know what to ask for. It may help to know im in the Houston TX area. Sooooo..... anyone have any ideas? You are more than welcome to private message me if you don't want to reply to the thread. Thanks a bunch!

More info on What Is Occupational Health Nursing? Salary?

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JerseyLilly

96 Posts

Specializes in Occupational Health Nurse/ case manager.

I would check out job salary websites like www.salary.com or Glassdoor.com to check out the average salary in your state, by occupation and experience.

Hope this helps!

Nurselizy

15 Posts

Specializes in L/D, OHN, NSF, Home health.

I agree with JerseyLilly, that is a good site to look at :) when I was first hired on it was considerably less than I make now. When I interviewed though, I stated my salary was negotiable. OHN jobs are rare to come by and there will be another nurse that will take what they offer if yours is too high. With the experience I have now, if I ever applied for another OHN job, I would have the qualifications stated in my resume of why they would want to pay me what I asked.

Hope this helps :)

Specializes in Occupational health, Corrections, PACU.

Since this post is older now, can you tell us what salary range you settled for. Just curious as to the salary that is being paid for occ. health nurses in a plant setting these days. Would help my frame of reference for my future endeavors quite a bit. (If you don't mind...)

Nurselizy

15 Posts

Specializes in L/D, OHN, NSF, Home health.
Since this post is older now, can you tell us what salary range you settled for. Just curious as to the salary that is being paid for occ. health nurses in a plant setting these days. Would help my frame of reference for my future endeavors quite a bit. (If you don't mind...)

When I hired on in 2006 the base salary was 22/hr. what lured me into the paycut back then were the hours.

M-Th 10hr days and NO weekends:yeah:! I do live in the South and the cost of living is considerably lower than in

other states. The company I work for paid for all of my OHN certifications so that was also a plus! Hope this helps ;)

42pines

1 Article; 369 Posts

Specializes in Occupational Health; Adult ICU.

Sounds like you'll be wearing a lot of hats. It won't be so easy for them to simply give your job to another...

For me much would depend upon benefits. If it came with good medical, matching 401k, etc. I'll be willing to work for perhaps $29@hour. But then I have no idea how expensive it is to live in the Houston area and you'll need to adjust for that.

MA where I had my last job had an income tax, NH where my former job didn't, so just to break even I had to get 5.3% more than I would in NH.

I wouldn't think you'd take less than $30/hour, and I wouldn't think you'd get more than $35--maybe that helps, but again, I really don't know pay rates in Texas.

(Edit:) Oops... I just saw the words "staffing agency." Evil words if ever any existed...good luck. I hope it doesn't begin with "A". Contract agencies, for the most part (from my experiences) are to be feared....

42pines

1 Article; 369 Posts

Specializes in Occupational Health; Adult ICU.

Being in Houston and with your background I'd suspect a low of $60k to a high of $75k annually with decent bennies.

Nurselizy

15 Posts

Specializes in L/D, OHN, NSF, Home health.

42 Pines... you are very correct with your quote! I was hired as an OHN (laid off 6/2010) with another company. They were willing to pay for all of my certifications and experience.:)

rckirby

4 Posts

Specializes in Occ Med.

FINALLY! I've found a forum where Occupational Health Nurses can chat! I've been an RN since '95 and got my first job in Occ Health as a 'contractor' in 2008. I've been at it ever since and LOVE it! Are there challenges? Yes there are.....which is why I've been trying to find a forum to talk about them! This thread was started a long time ago, but I've read every thread and hope to keep it going!

If anyone else is still out there, let me know! I'm in SW PA

nursefor'ire

8 Posts

Just curious what the going rate is in Canada? I'm a contractor and new to this field.

42pines

1 Article; 369 Posts

Specializes in Occupational Health; Adult ICU.

Very hard to say, Canada like the US is a mighty big place. Moncton, NB might be, as a guess $54-68, whereas Vancouver might command 65-75, and extremely remote places like the mines way up North might even pay more. Consider joining: Home

nursefor'ire

8 Posts

I recently took a contract position for a health and safety provider. It was advertised as ten hours per week with occasional campaigns of 2-3 days length. I agreed to the job based on those hours. Since starting I am averaging only 7 hrs and less per week which is very hard to live on. When I asked if this is how things will remain I was told that there are no more hours and I cost too much per hour to have me doing technician duties. Sometimes I am asked to do 1 hr of work for a medical, and have a significant commute, which according to my boss is ok because I am a contractor not an employee.

My question is whether there is anything I can do. In my contract it states I am not allowed to work for the competition for a 3 year period.

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